Early intervention, including baby massage, can be key to giving disadvantaged children opportunities they deserve. So the government announcement of a review into early intervention gives hope for continued support for infant masaage training. It will be chaired by Graham Allen MP (Lab), who has been appointed by Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Works and Pensions. In 2008 the two co-authored a similar report which described infant massage as "excellent". "If early intervention is to be a success it must last a generation and therefore has to be owned and sustained by all parties," says Allen. Duncan Smith agrees. "Early intervention means tackling the root cause of social problems rather than spending years afterwards ineffectively treating the symptoms," he says. Children's Minister Sarah Teather (LibDem) has the same belief. "Intervening earlier with troubled families can not only prevent children and their parents falling into a cycle of deprivation, anti-social behaviour and poverty but can save thousands if not millions of pounds in the longer term," she says. Allen's review will report by the end of January 2011 on the issue of best practice and provide an interim report on funding. A final report on funding will be produced by May 2011. | 
